Ten Little Duel Monsters
by Telecoi
Summary: Ten people are trapped on an island with a killer... One by one, they fall prey, and they must find out who is doing it before it's too late... WARNING: CHARACTER DEATHS
1. Chappie 1

A/N: Okay... this is a fic based on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, which is one of my co-favorite books. I hope you enjoy the first chappie!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or And Then There Were None. So sue me. Or rather, don't.

Ten Little Duel Monsters

"Hey Sis! You got a lettah!" Joey yelled as he sorted through the mail. Serenity rused into the room and carefully began to open the envelope that Joey handed her. Joey, on the other hand, simply ripped open the envelope bearing his name and began to read it.

"_Mr. Wheeler,"_ it read, _"There is to be a party commemorating all finalists in the Battle City tournament to be held in Duelist Kingdom. No RSVP is needed. The party will be held the weekend of the twenty-third."_ There was no signature.

"I'm so happy for you, Joey!" cried Serenity, hugging him.

"'Ey! Have you been readin' my lettah over my shoulder?" Joey asked indignantly, ignoring the fact that Serenity barely reached his shoulder, and could never look over it.

"No, big brother! Read this." Serenity handed him the letter she'd recieved.

It read, _"Miss Wheeler, there is to be a party commemorating all finalists in the Battle City tournament in Duelist Kingdom. We understand that you are the sister of a finalist, Joey Wheeler, and are therefore invited to attend. No RSVP is needed. The party will be held the weekend of the twenty-third."_ Here, again, was no signature.

""Ey, that's great, Sis!" said Joey, pulling Serenity into a one-armed hug. "You're comin' too! What could be more fun dan partyin' all weekend wit you, da gang, and... well, I hope Kaiba isn't comin'!" (A/N: Aww... poor Joey. So unaware! hugs Joey notices Joey being wrenched from her grasp by Lady LeBeau (one of her friends) and Mai Valenine LLB: You're the one putting him through this! Mai: Yeah! hugs Joey LLB: Hey! hugs Joey (The two begin a tug-of-war with Joey) A/N: Oh well... I at least have my favorite bishie! hugs Ryou noticed Ryou being ripped out of her arms by Ribbon (the two start a tug-of-war over Ryou) Ryou and Joey: Get on with it!)

"Your mail, sir," said one of KaibaCorp's employees, handing Seto Kaiba his mail.

"Didn't I tell you not to disturb me?" said Kaiba, voice calm and low but dangerous. "I'm in the middle of something important here." Nonetheless, he took the mail. "Get out," he shot at he employee, who hastened to obey.

Kaiba read the mail until he reached one particular letter, and then he actually smiled.

Miho Nosaka, called Ribbon by her friends, was walking back to her house from the mailbox. She sorted through the mail, threw the bills and advertisements in the sink, did a double-take to make sure that there was no water in the sink this time, then continued to her room, flopped on her bed, and opened and read the one envelope she'd kept.

"Yay!" she cheered happily, then stuffed the letter back into the envelope and stuffed both into her purse, which was already overflowing with various papers (A/N: Know where I got the inspiration? My purse)

Ryou, sitting in his lonely apartment, heard the telltale CLANG that meant the mailbox outside his door had just been filled. He crossed the room, opened his door, and lifted up the cover to the mailbox. Inside was one envelope. He brought it inside, opened it, scanned the letter, then nearly fainted. He kissed the letter and began to laugh.

It was Marik and Ishizu's last day in Domino before they left to return to Egypt. Well, that was the plan, anyway. It was rather thrown for a loop when they received a letter. It lay on the table before them as they argued.

"Ishizu, we have to."

"No, Marik. We're going home."

"But Ishizu-"

"NO."

"But it will cause trouble if we go!"

"And more if we stay. We're needed back home."

"Ishizu-"

"Fine. We'll stay."

Even though his sister had finally agreed with him, Marik seemed to grow uneasy.

Tristan (no surprise) had also received a letter. He ripped it open, read it, yelled happily, and began to do a small jig.

"Yugi! You got a letter!" Mr. Mutou called up the stairs to Yugi's room. Yugi ran down the stairs, tripped, fell, got back up, and took the letter from his grandfather. He opened it, scanned its contents, and smiled.

"This should be fun."

Tea cheerily skipped to her mailbox, opened it, and pulled out a thick wad of letters. One by one, she opened, read, and answered the letters. Then she reached one with no return address or signature. However, she liked the letter's contents, and made a mental note to befriend the sender.

One week later...

"Hey Joey! Hey Serenity!' Yugi greeted his two friends on the boat to Duelist Kingdom.

"Hi!" they replied cheerily.

"Oh look. There's da resta da gang!" said Joey, pointing to where Tea and Tristan stood. They hurried over to greet them.

"Hi guys!" said Tea, giving them all a hug.

"Who else have you seen?" asked Yugi.

"Well, Kaiba's in a private cabin and doesn't show any signs of coming out," said Tristan. "Marik and Ishizu are boarding right now, and Ryou's unpacking."

"He didn't bring the Millennium Ring, did he?" Joey asked dryly.

"Actually, he didn't," said Tea. "He wasn't wearing it, and when I asked, he said he hadn't brought it."

"Yeah, well..." said Joey disbelievingly. (A/N: I could have sworn that disbelievingly was a word. You know what I mean, though, don't you?)

Serenity nudged Joey. "Shhhh! Here he comes."

"Hello," said Ryou. "I'm so excited!" Indeed, he was practically quivering. "I-" He was cut off by a purple-haired girl putting her hands over his eyes from behind.

"Guess who?" said the girl.

"Uhhh..." said Ryou.

Tristan blushed slightly. "H-hi, Ribbon." He used to like her. But now he liked Serenity. So WHY was he blushing?

"Ribbon!" Ryou guessed, looking quite proud of himself.

"Right! A+ for you!" Ribbon said, giving Ryou a hug.

"Greetings," said Ishizu as she and Marik approached.

"Hello," said Joey. He was thinking, "_What the heck is Ribbon doing here?_"

"We've arrived!" announced the navigator sometime later. "Please take your luggage and leave the boat promptly. Thank you for riding!" Everyone dragged/carried/rolled their luggage off of the boat, which wasted no time in leaving the island.

"Where do we stay?" asked Serenity.

"The castle. Where else would we stay?" Kaiba said in a superior manner.

"'Ey! Lay off my sistah!" Joey said angrily.

Nevertheless, no one argued with Kaiba's way of thinking, and they all trekked off. After about an hour, they reached the castle. They stood at the door and there was an awkward pause.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Ribbon cheerfully, pushing open the front door. "Let's go in!" She headed inside, the others trailing in after her.

The castle had been redecorated. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling. It looked as though it had been decorated for a fancy party. However, it was totally devoid of human life. Marik summed up everyone's thoughts.

"Where is everyone?"

"I don't know," said Serenity. "Mai and Odion should both be here!"

"Huh? Why?" asked Marik.

"For the party, bonehead!" said Joey.

Marik blinked. "What party?"

"The party!" said Ribbon. "I bet the other people are upstairs!"

"Other people? There are only two more people coming," Yugi frowned.

"I'm here for a court hearing!" Marik said, confused.

"What?" chorused Ribbon, Joey, Serenity, Yugi, Tea, Kaiba, Ryou, and Tristan.

"Read this." Ishizu handed Kaiba a note, which he read out loud.

"'_Mr. Ishtar, due to your outrageous display during the Battle City finals, both your and your sister's presence is required at a court hearing to be held in Duelist Kingdom. This will be the weekend of the twenty-third.'_ It's signed Seto Kaiba." He looked up from the letter. "I didn't write this!"

"So why are we here?" asked Marik.

"For the party!" repeated Ribbon.

"What party?"

"Mai Valentine's surprise birthday party!" said Tea.

"Huh? I'm here for a party commemorating the Battle City finalists!" said Yugi.

"Me too!" chorused Joey and Serenity.

"I'm here for Mai's party too!" said Ribbon.

"I got a letter saying some technology I've been working on since I was twelve had finally been completed and was being tested here," said Kaiba.

"What, like a nuclear bomb?" Joey muttered.

"Heel, Mutt," said Kaiba.

Ryou pulled a letter out of his pocket. "I got this letter... it's signed Amane, saying she's still alive...and wanted to meet me and my friends here... but I guess it was all just a practical joke... of some sort..." his voice trailed off as a tear slid down his cheek (A/N: Awww... huggles Ryou). Ribbon hugged him.

There was a pause in which everyone turned to stare at Tristan.

"What?" asked Tristan.

"What's your story?" asked Kaiba.

Tristan appeared to squirm a bit. He looked from Serenity to Joey to Ribbon, paused longer, and finally said, "I stand on the fifth." (A/N's friend Mel: DON'T STAND ON THE FIFTH! PLEAD THE FIFTH! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF SOMEONE STOOD ON YOU!)

"You stand on the fifth," repeated Kaiba.

"I stand on the fifth," insisted Tristan.

Kaiba picked up his luggage. "Well, seeing as the boat won't be coming back until Monday, we might as well unpack and choose a room. This one's mine," he added, walking into the only room on the first floor.

"Sure! Mistah high an' mighty CEO gets da room on da first floor, so he doesn't hafta carry his luggage up a staircase an' pull a muscle!" Joey muttered as he picked up his luggage and headed up the stairs.

A few hours later, all of them (with the exception of Kaiba and the Ishtars) had regrouped in one of the many living rooms and were chatting lightly.

"I'm hungry!" Tristan complained.

"We're going to have to do something for dinner," said Tea.

"There's four kitchens in this mansion," said Joey. "One up the stairs directly on the right, one in the cellar, one on the top floor, and one across from Tea's room. And they're all huge!"

"How do you know?" asked Yugi.

"Oh... I passed 'em exploring the mansion."

"How do you know where Tea's room is?" asked Tristan, tone innocent but eyes teasing.

Both Joey and Tea narrowed their eyes as they blushed. "Yeah, right Tristan."

"What's he talking about, big brother?" Serenity asked.

"Nothin' Sis," Joey said. "Let's go eat. The kitchen up the stairs on the right is closest."

Some time later, Kaiba heard a knock on the door. "Yes?"

"Kaiba, we're preparing for dinner," came Tea's voice through the door.

"And I care?"

"Yes! Get your lazy tail out here and help!"

"I don't cook."

"On an abandoned island you do!"

Here Kaiba used very colorful language not appropriate for the current PG-13 setting.

"If you don't help, you don't eat!"

"Whatever. Fine. I'll come out and help. Just give me a minute."

Kaiba continued to read the stocks. He'd come down when it suited him.

Tea banged her fist on the door. "Kaiba, get out NOW!"

Kaiba idly turned a page of the newspaper. "I'm preparing for dinner. Go away."

There was another long pause. "Kaiba..."

"I'm almost done."

With a shriek of rage, Tea burst in.

About an hour later, the ten guests were seated at a dinner table, eating some of the plentiful supply of food in the mansion.

"R-ryou?" Ribbon asked tentatively, staring at the pile of four large steaks sitting in front of him. "I thought you were a vegetarian!"

"Well, ever since my yami got especially powerful, I've developed quite an appetite for steak," Ryou said, carefully cutting up the first steak.

"Oh, how cute!" Tea said, nodding towards china figures of Duel Monsters in the center of the table. "At least...most of them are cute!"

"I don't know if the Red Eyes Black Dragon would be called 'cute,'" said Joey, picking up the aforesaid dragon.

"I guess they're supposed to go with the poem," said Serenity.

"Poem?" Tristan asked.

"Yes. The one over there," Serenity said, gesturing towards a framed poem hanging on the wall. "There's a copy in my room, too."

"Mine too," said Ribbon.

"And mine," said Tea.

"Mine as well," added Ishizu.

They all looked at the boys.

The following few lines happened at about the same time:

"Don't look at me!" said Joey and Tristan.

"There's nothing in my room," Kaiba said.

"Why are you looking at me? I didn't do anything!" protested Marik.

"Why do only the girls have the poem?" wondered Yugi.

"Why? What does it say?" Ryou asked, getting up and walking over to read the poem aloud. " 'Ten little Duel Monsters looking so fine,

A mirror broke in one's face and then there were nine.

Nine little Duel Monsters pondering their fate,

The past killed one and then there were eight.

Eight little Duel Monsters looking at the heavens,

A star fell on one and then there were seven

Seven little Duel Monsters going after chicks,

Someone took offense and then there were six.

Six little Duel Monsters going for a dive

One drowned in the water and then there were five.

Five little Duel Monsters hiding from the gore,

One couldn't clear his mind and then there were four.

Four little Duel Monsters unable to see,

One tripped and fell and then there were three.

Three little Duel Monsters eating food brand new,

But one choked and died and then there were two.

Two little Duel Monsters: just a pair of nuns,

One left the abbey and then there was one

One little Duel Monster left all alone,

He disappeared and then there were none!' "

"That was... weird," said Marik.

"Well, I'm going to go get some more steak sauce," said Tea, walking towards the kitchen. Once she had disappeared into the adjoining room there was a loud crash and a brief tinkling sound.

"Tea?" Yugi asked. "Are you all right?"

Tristan stood up and walked into the kitchen, calling, "Tea?" Seconds later, he appeared in the doorway, stony-faced. "Don't let Serenity come in here."

"Why? What happened?" Serenity asked, standing up and heading towards the kitchen doorway.

Joey stood up as well and caught Serenity by the arm, a sense of foreboding filling him. "Don't go, Sis."

Kaiba also stood up. "Marik, Tristan, _Mutt_, come with me. All the rest of you weaklings, stay here." The four boys entered the kitchen, all others looking after them, either indignant, worried, or both.

Kaiba reentered the room. "Gardner's dead."

A/N: Wow, this is my longest chapter ever! Anyway, a clarification on why the poems are only in the girls' rooms when the rooms were chosen at random: every one of them left for a brief period of time, whereupon the killer (oh, come on, you know there's a killer; there's no way that was an accident) snuck into their room and put the poem up. Thank you very much. Oh, and a note to any and all reviewers: you are free to say who you think it is and the reasoning behind it, but I will not tell you if you are right are wrong.


	2. Chappie 2

A/N: Not much to say. I'm politely inquiring as to whether reviewers would include who they think the killer is in their reviews so that I can tally up all of the guesses, and at the end of the story (I almost have it all written right now!) I will show the results! It should be interesting...

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Nobody says I own it. The sheep are lying.

Ten Little Duel Monsters

_The four boys entered the kitchen. Tea lay on the floor, brunette hair strewn over her face, full of dark red splotches. Kaiba leaned down and picked up her hand. He held his fingers to her wrist for a while, then dropped her hand unceremoniously. It hit the floor with a thump that reassured them that she was gone._

"_There's no pulse. She's dead," Kaiba informed the orders. The shattered pieces of the mirror that had fallen, ending her life, crunched under his feet._

"Gardner's dead," Kaiba repeated, addressing the people who had been left in the dining room. Yugi began to cry softly.

"You don't seem too choked up about this, Kaiba," Joey said angrily, tears streaming down his face.

Kaiba turned to face him. "Am I supposed to be? You know I hated her. What am I supposed to be saying, then? 'I'm so sad; we were secret lovers?' You idiot!" (A/N: No offense to all azureshippers. It just seemed like a very Kaiba-ish thing to say. I duly apologize. And now, back to the story!)

"You're not even slightly upset!" yelled Joey.

"I'm used to death," Kaiba shot back coolly. "It's her own fault if she decides to walk into a stupid mirror."

"I'm surprised you think that, Kaiba," said Ishizu. "Tea didn't walk into that mirror. She was murdered with it."

"Nor that necklace crap again?" Kaiba said, obviously resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"I gave the necklace to Yugi. This is merely an observation that it doesn't take a genius to figure out. Look at the poem. Then look at the way she died."

Kaiba snorted. "Did you even _listen_ to the poem? How is a star gonna fall on one of us? And a nun leaving an abbey? Please. And even if the poem was real, the girls were the only ones with poems in their rooms. So I'm guessing that only the girls are in danger." He looked around the room. "Well, I'm not particularly attached to any of the girls here, so I'll just go to bed." He left. (A/N: Again, I apologize to all silentshippers, trustshippers, and pompshippers.)

"Ishizu? Did you really mean what you said?" Serenity asked fearfully.

"I did. I shall also go to bed. And when and if you go to bed," she said, addressing everyone in the room, "I advise that you lock your doors."

-

Serenity sat, trembling, on the bed in her room. She had wrapped herself in all the blankets she could find, but she was still cold. She reflected over the day's events. Tea had been like an older sister to her. It still hadn't quite sunk in that she was dead.

And who was the killer? There was Yugi, Tristan, Ryou, Ishizu, Ribbon...

Joey! Could _Joey _be the killer? Impossible! It was Marik. He'd proven himself capable of evil. Or could it be Kaiba? He was certainly evil enough. And it would be easy enough for him to buy the island for his own evil purposes.

What was his motive?

That was easy. He'd told them. _"You know I hated her."_ He just wanted to rid himself of annoying distractions. And competition! Serenity gasped. Yugi was in more danger than anyone else was!

A knock came upon her door. She shrieked, then said, timidly, "Who is it?"

"It's Tristan. Can I come in?"

"NO!" She hadn't thought about Tristan. Still, she supposed it was possible. "Whatever you have to say, please say it through the door!"

"Umm... this is really not a good topic to shout through doors..."

"So wait until morning!"

"But I have to discuss this with you alone, and I doubt even if it was daytime that you'd risk being alone with me.

So he knew she didn't trust him. Had she been that obvious? "Fine. I'll let you in." Still clutching the blankets around her, she headed to the door, managing to pick up an iron candlestick on her way. She shoved the wardrobe she'd blocked the door with out of the way, unlocked the door, and opened it. Tristan slipped inside.

"What is it?" Serenity asked.

"Um... the reason I wouldn't say what my letter said."

"What is it?" Serenity's fear had been replaced by curiosity.

Tristan held out a sheet of paper. Serenity shifted beneath her many layers of blankets until she could hold the candlestick and the blankets at the same time, then used her free hand to take the paper.

"_Dear Tristan,_

_I hope you won't think I'm too over-confident, but I couldn't help but notice that you like me. However, when I discussed the topic of going out with you with my mom and Joey, they both said no. So I would like to invite you out to Duelist Kingdom for the weekend of the twenty-third. I may have to bring some other people along if I can't convince my mom to let me go by myself. Don't worry, though. I'll find a way to get rid of them._

_With love, _

_Serenity"_

Serenity looked at Tristan, incredulous. "You were stupid enough to fall for this?"

"You must admit, it looks a great deal like your handwriting."

"Well, yes... but there's no way I'd write this!"

Tristan, like most of the male population, had a very fragile ego. (A/N: EEP! runs from group of males chasing her with torches and pitchforks HELP!) His face grew an angry expression. "I think you did."

"What?"

"You must have written this. Either that, or someone is extraordinarily good at forging notes."

"If I had actually written this, wouldn't I have come out and said it?"

"Not if you were the killer."

Serenity, shocked, accidentally dropped the candlestick she'd been holding. Tristan leaned down and picked it up. "If you're not the killer, why are you going around carrying an iron candlestick?"

"To protect myself! Give me that!" Serenity made a wild grab for the candlestick, but Tristan, being much taller than she, easily held it out of her reach. She tripped over the many blankets she had draped over herself. "Oww..."

A scream interrupted their conversation.

-

Kaiba, as was his custom, was not sleeping, but using his laptop to communicate with KaibaCorp. As he wasn't there, there were several mistakes the other 'morons' were making, and he needed to fix them.

And then came a scream.

-

Joey, no surprise, was sound asleep, but he was haunted with dreams of flashing images of Tea's dead body.

_Tea was walking down the hallway to the kitchen, humming merrily. Joey sat in wait in the kitchen, hiding just to the right of the doorway. She entered, and Joey brought a mirror down on her head with all the force he could muster._

Drenched with cold sweat, Joey awoke to the sound of a scream.

-

Ribbon was sitting on her bed, trembling. Who? Who? She decided upon Marik. He was evil. He was no stranger to these acts. Yes, it had to be Marik.

She started as a scream sounded.

-

Ryou had been tossing and turning all night. Therefore, his long, fluffy hair was now a mass of knots. He was working diligently at running a brush through his hair when a scream interrupted his efforts.

-

Yugi sat hunched against the headboard of his bed, deliberately trying to stay awake. He knew that if he fell asleep, Tea's death would haunt his dreams.

"_Gardner's dead. Gardner's dead. Gardner's dead. Gardner's dead. Gardner's dead. Gardner's dead. Gardner's dead. Gardner's dead. Gardner's-"_

"STOP IT!" Yugi cried, clutching his head, tears filling his purple eyes. Kaiba's voice, so flat and emotionless, kept on running through his head. (A/N: Awww... poor Yugi! huggles Yugi notices Yugi being ripped out of her arms by Rebecca and her friend Mel, who promptly begin to hug him A/N: What is this, the hug-bishies-that-Telecoi-is-trying-to-hug-fic? Rebecca, Mel, Mai, LLB, and Ribbon: Well, you're killing them! A/N: Oh yeah...)

A loud and resounding scream broke his thoughts.

-

Ribbon and Yugi were the first out of their rooms at the sound of the scream.

"What happened?" they asked each other simultaneously, to which they both replied, "I don't know!"

Ryou was the next out of his room. He still had a brush stuck in his hair. "What's going on?"

"We don't know!" cried Ribbon and Yugi.

Serenity, still convinced that Yugi was in danger, came barreling out of her room at about the same time that Joey left his. She screamed, "Where's Yugi!"

"I'm here! What's going-" Yugi was cut off as Serenity enveloped him in a hug. Tristan followed Serenity out of her room.

"What's going on?"

"What were you doin' in my sistah's room!" Joey bellowed.

Kaiba had finally made it up to the second floor. "What's all the noise about?"

"We don't know!" everyone yelled back, save Tristan and Joey, who were still arguing.

"Shhh! What's that noise?" Serenity asked. Everyone fell silent, then turned to look at the end of the hall, where the noise was coming from. Marik was huddled in a corner, sobbing, an open door in front of him. They all traveled down the hall. Serenity and Yugi both knelt down to comfort Marik as the rest glanced into the room that was in front of them.

Ishizu was sprawled on the floor, strangled by the Millennium Necklace.

A/N: Aaaannnndd... it's over. Poor Ishizu. Poor Marik. Who do YOU think the killer is? REVIEW! PLEASE! I'M BEGGING!

**Shan's Mousey**: Yeah, there was a reason that Tea and Ishizu died first. But I can't give anything else away! 

**Revan Starr**: Well, someone with a yami didn't die... THIS time. Unless, of course, Ishizu's got a yami she's never told us about! And Ryou's MINE!

**Mattie Silver**: I updated! (A/N's friend SatanBarbie: (sarcastically) Wow, really?)

**TCD0012**: Why would you get flamed for supporting Tea? Everyone's got the right to their own opinion.

So you think it's Tristan, huh? draws tally mark under Tristan's name on a big chart

**Kristina**: Hmm... so that's one vote for Kaiba... draws tally mark under Kaiba's name on big chart


	3. Chappie 3

A/N: I'm updating this thing fast!  I'm just really inspired by this thing... but I've hit a bout of writer's block. Mehhhh...

Ten Little Duel Monsters 

A few minutes later, the group of eight people had gathered in the dining room where they had eaten dinner. Serenity and Ryou had helped to make everyone a good, strong pot of tea. At the moment, they were back in the kitchen, searching for an asprin to help soothe Marik's terrible headache.

"In old books, they gave people brandy to calm them down," Serenity said, picking up a bottle of wine that had been buried in the back of a cupboard. "But we'd have to keep it away from Kaiba."

"So you think it's him too?" Ryou said, turning from the cupboards to face her.

"Yes! Who else could it be?" Serenity said, wide-eyed. "You heard him. _'I hated Gardner.' 'Not that necklace crap again?'_ You see? Ishizu and Tea have both been on his nerves since the day he met them. And now he's getting rid of them."

"You know, you may have something there. Ah! Here's the asprin!"

"Listen, let's watch out for each other, and everyone else! Especially Yugi. If Kaiba is the one, then Yugi's going to be killed next."

"Right." Ryou filled up a glass with water and grabbed two asprin. "If Marik doesn't calm down within an hour, let's give him some wine. Otherwise, let's forget it's here. Alcohol and homicidal maniacs don't mix.

* * *

A loud, scream broke the night stillness once again. A scene much like before unfolded, except everyone was fully awake this time.

Joey was the first one out of his room. Within a few seconds, Yugi had also burst out of his room.

"Who now?" Joey asked fearfully as Serenity and Ryou burst out of their rooms, spied Yugi, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Ribbon ran frantically out of her room. "What now?"

"What's going on?" Tristan asked as he ran from his room.

There was a brief pause.

"Who's not here?" Ryou asked.

"Well, Kaiba's downstairs," said Ribbon, counting heads. "So...Marik!" All of the people currently in the hall ran to Marik's room and opened the door. Marik lay, deathly silent, upon his bed, although there were no physical marks that gave any clue as to why he would be dead. Immediately, Joey turned on Ryou.

"All right, what did you do to those asprin? Did you poison them? Or did you give him an overdose?" He held up a fist. "Speak up!"

"Big brother, calm down," Serenity pleaded, latching onto Joey's arm. "I was with him! He didn't do anything!"

"Yeah right! He never goes anywhere without that ring, and he says he didn't bring it with him? As if! I bet he's wearing it right now!"

"What's going on?" Marik asked in a sleepy voice, rather shocked and confused by seeing a group of people in his room while he was asleep. He raised himself up into a sitting position and stared at everyone.

"Ummm...nothing," Ryou said, eyes downcast.

"Wait! Someone still screamed!" said Yugi.

"Kaiba!" said Tristan. The group ran downstairs to Kaiba's room. There was a loud banging and shuffling coming from inside.

"Kaiba?" yelled Ribbon, banging on the door with her fist.

The door was wrenched open by Kaiba and everyone caught a glimpse of his room.

It was a wreck. The drawers had been wrenched out of their homes and the contents had been dumped on the floor. Everything on a shelf had been knocked askew.

"Kaiba? What's going on?" Yugi asked.

"I CAN'T FIND MY LAPTOP!" Kaiba yelled angrily. "DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT WAS OUT ONLY COMMMUNICATION DEVICE; OUT ONLY WAY TO GET HELP FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD!"

"Chill, Kaiba," said Joey. "We didn't take it."

Kaiba slammed the door in Joey's face. Convinced that everyone was alive and well, everyone went to bed.

* * *

Serenity awoke to the sound of birds chirping and to the sunlight pouring through her window. She glanced through the window to see Duelist Kingdom bathed in sunlight, looking like something from a fantasy world.

"_It's so perfect,"_ she thought. _"You'd never guess that there have been two murders here."_ She remained sitting for a few seconds, then rose, dressed, and cautiously left her room, glancing at her watch. It was already 1:00 p.m., and the closed doors up and down the hall showed other people hiding from the current events in the protection of sleep.

Noise was coming from the kitchen. Slowly she crept downstairs to find that Ryou, Ribbon, Joey, and Yugi were already awake and busy fixing lunch. They were also discussing their opinions of who the murderer was.

"It HAS to be Marik," Ribbon declared decisively. "I mean, who ELSE has gone on a killing rampage before?"

"True, but that was his yami. He didn't do it himself," said Ryou.

"You _would_ say that," Joey said, rather meanly.

"Meaning?" Ryou asked defensively.

"Who else was forced into evil things by their yami? Oh yeah, that was you. But you never got rid of that ring! And now you claim you left it at home? There's not a doubt in my mind as to who the killer is!"

Serenity decided that now was a good time to interrupt. "Good morning," she said, trying to sound enthusiastic and happy, yet failing miserably.

Joey, who would never let his sister see him in a bad mood, stopped yelling at Ryou, even if he did send him evil glares once in a while. Ryou decided to shrug it off.

* * *

Eight people were sitting down to lunch. There was very little conversation, although there were many valiant attempts to start one.

"Could you pass the sandwiches?" Joey asked. They were passed to him wordlessly.

About five minutes later, Serenity said, "You know, I could have sworn that there were ten of these china Duel Monsters figures yesterday."

"There were," said Ribbon. "The Magician of Faith has disappeared."

"So has the Mystical Elf," said Marik. "Now there's only eight."

Everyone stared. _Only eight...

* * *

_

After everyone had finished lunch and the dishes had been washed, nobody quite knew what to do. They all met in the living room, sitting down and seeming to drown in the gloomy silence. Ever practical, Kaiba started a one-sided conversation that sounded more like a lecture.

"Listen, you can't just sit there feeling sorry for yourselves. You need to take precautions to make sure that you don't die too."

"Could you possibly be more heartless, Kaiba?" Ribbon asked at the same time that Joey retorted, "Such as?"

"Such as," Kaiba said, glaring at Ribbon, "never being alone with one person, in case they're the killer. And it's probably a bad idea to be totally alone unless you're sleeping. And always lock your door at night."

There was a long pause; no one even acknowledged that Kaiba had spoken, although they had all been listening.

"So now what?" Tristan burst out suddenly. "There have been two murders, but we can't expect to sit and do nothing the rest of the weekend! We have to do something or we'll all go mad with grief!"

"Fine. I suggest we eat dinner," Marik said automatically, cheeks still wet with tears.

"Dinner! We just ate lunch!" Joey protested, not hungry for once.

"You're wrong," Serenity said, shocked, as she looked at her watch. "It's already 8:00."

"So who wants to cook dinner?" Ryou asked, getting up and heading towards the kitchen.

"I will," said Serenity, standing.

"So will I," said Ribbon.

The three people who had volunteered headed to the kitchen and began to cook. About half an hour later, everyone was sitting down to dinner. However, nobody seemed very hungry. They all just picked at their food, appetites gone. Therefore, when Marik fell asleep in the mashed potatoes, exhausted from grieving, they all decided it would be best to go to bed.

"Lock your doors," Kaiba reminded them as everyone else headed upstairs.

Eight doors shut and locked.

* * *

Serenity woke up before anyone else the next morning. With a jolt, she realized that there hadn't been a murder in twenty-four hours. All they had to do was sit in a group for another day, the weekend would be over, the boat would come, and they could leave! She was in such a good mood that she decided to make everyone homemade French toast.

"_Tea loved French toast,"_ Serenity recalled, gloom replacing her previous ecstasy as she remembered why she had been sad in the first place. Nonetheless, she decided that French toast was a good idea, so she headed down to the kitchen, glancing behind her every so often to make sure that no murderers were following her.

"Owww!" she muttered as she stepped on something sharp passing the table. Glancing down, she saw shattered pieces of purple china.

Her heart skipped a beat and hopped into her throat. Looking at the china figures, she counted them mentally.

"_Kuriboh, Blue Eyes White Dragon, Winged Dragon of Ra, Cyber Commander, Dark Magician Girl, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Change of Heart..."_ She gasped. "It's only seven! The Dark Magician is gone!" Her heart beat faster than it had before. "Yugi! I knew he was in danger!" She ran from the room screaming, "Yugiiiiiiii!"

"What do you think you're doing, Wheeler?" Kaiba stormed, bursting out of his room. He got a glimpse of Serenity as she dashed up the stairs. Rolling his eyes, he followed her.

Serenity pounded on Yugi's door with her fists in rapid succession. "Yugi! Yugi! Open the door!"

"What's wrong?" Ryou asked, exiting his own room.

"Kaiba's killed Yugi!" Serenity screamed hysterically. She began to pound on the door again. "**YUGI!**"

By this time, Kaiba had run upstairs and everyone else had left his or her rooms. Kaiba reached forward, turned the doorknob, and pushed the door open.

Yugi lay peacefully on his bed, starchips sprinkled across his face and in his hair. Kaiba placed two fingers on Yugi's neck and searched for a pulse.

"It's no good. He's gone."

* * *

A/N: Oh, poor Yugi. EEEEEEEP! (begins running from Mel and Rebecca). Mel: Get back here, you Yugi-murderer! Rebecca: If you think the way I hated Yami was bad, wait 'til I get back at you! Telecoi: Chill! It's just a fic! Yugi's fine! (shoves Yugi at Yugi-fangirls-bent-on-taking-revenge, who immediately begin squealing and hugging him) Whew... Well, another chapter done? Who do you think did it? Review, PLEASE!

**Seto's Obbsessive Stalker**: You think it's Ribbon? (draws tally mark under Ribbon's name on big chart)

**NekoAi**: And another vote for Ribbon... (draws tally mark under Ribbon's name on big chart)

**Raven's Darkness**: Now Pegasus has a vote! (Pegasus: I'm so loved! Telecoi: Not really... she thinks you're a homicidal killer. Pegasus: ...You mean I'm not?) (draws tally mark under Pegasus's name on big chart)

**TCD0012**: Wow, great theory! I can see this fic is making you think! I'm so happy!

**Ryouismyidle**: ...well, people are already REALLY gonna hate me for this chapter! What's a few more homicidal, revenge-bent people going to hurt? Aside from me, I mean. Besides, you know that at least one of them are gonna die, if not both. Whoops! I've got to stop giving things away in review responses!

**BoredAsCrap**: Heh. Love your name. Okay, since you suspect Yugi and Serenity, I'll give them each half a vote. Although most likely you don't think it's Yugi anymore... (draws one-half of a tally mark under Yugi and Serenity's names on big chart)

**Athena777**: Since you think it's two people, they each get half of a vote. (draws one-half of a tally mark under Tristan and Kaiba's names on big chart)

**Revan Starr**: There's no way I could kill off my favorite character so early! And I accept your duel (sporks rock, by the way. And it's fun to say) (pulls out earring) Well, I suppose I could have worse weapons. At least this is the pointy pair of earrings that always poke my ear and turn it red...

Standings: The votes are thus: One and a half votes for Tristan, one and a half votes for Kaiba, two votes for Ribbon, one vote for Pegasus, one-half of a vote for Yugi, and one-half of a vote for Serenity. There are no votes for Marik, Ryou, or Joey, as well as all characters who aren't here, except for Pegasus.

This is Telecoi, ending the story.


	4. Chappie 4

Ten Little Duel Monsters

Ryou and Serenity exchanged glances that plainly said, _"Kaiba. I KNEW we should have looked after Yugi!"_

"How did he die?" Marik asked, voice strangely high-pitched.

Kaiba pulled the sheets off of Yugi's body. "No marks." He leaned Yugi's head back, exposing his neck. "There's no bruising on his neck; he wasn't strangled. So I guess he was poisoned. Either that or-" Kaiba lifted up one of Yugi's eyelids, then leaned forward until his nose was only inches from Yugi's eye. "He was suffocated," Kaiba announced with finality.

"What? How do you know?" Serenity asked, lip trembling. Joey gave her a hug and she began to cry into his shirt.

"There are faint yellow splotches on the whites of his eyes. Do you think that Gozaburo didn't make me study medicine?" Silently, Kaiba cursed. That had just slipped out! He didn't normally talk about Gozaburo.

"Look! He has something in his hand!" Marik said, pointing. He immediately tried to open Yugi's hand.

"Don't bother. It takes tremendous strength to break the grip of someone who's been suffocated," Kaiba informed him.

"So help us!" Ryou said as he joined Marik. Eventually, with everyone's help, they managed to break Yugi's grip.

In his hand was a single brown hair.

Several things happened at once. Ryou gasped and looked at Kaiba. Serenity squealed and hid behind Joey, as though afraid that Kaiba would attack everyone then and there. Marik glanced at Tristan. Tristan and Kaiba looked at each other. Joey glared at Kaiba. Ribbon looked from Tristan to Kaiba and back to Tristan. Then she began to laugh hysterically.

"I just got it! The rhyme! Don't you see? A star fell on one... and then there were seven! But not for long! BECAUSE WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" She began to laugh again, although she looked scared to death and began to tremble.

Kaiba moved swiftly forward and slapped her hard across the face, perhaps with more force than absolutely necessary. She stumbled backwards and fell against Ryou. He wrapped his arms around her protectively while glaring at Kaiba, as though daring him to hurt her again. Serenity stepped out from behind her brother at the sound of the slap, squealing, "Don't kill her, Kaiba!"

"Look who's talking," Kaiba said.

"What?" Serenity said in outrage. "You think I'm killing everyone!"

"Not at all. My money's on someone else. I'm just wondering how you knew that Yugi was dead before you saw him," Kaiba said. Tristan nodded as everyone else stared at Serenity.

"I knew because the Dark Magician's gone!" Serenity said.

Everyone stared at her again, but this time it seemed the general opinion that she was insane.

"The Dark Magician china figure downstairs," Serenity clarified. "I was going to make breakfast."

"You were all alone downstairs. You could have broken the Dark Magician figure yourself," Tristan pointed out.

"**I didn't do it, Tristan!"** Serenity protested.

"You know, there is a possibility that no one seems to have thought of," Kaiba said. "The killer isn't necessarily one of us."

There was a shocked silence. He was right; they hadn't thought of that.

"So here's what I propose. We need to search the island, starting with the house."

"We can hear the details later. Can we leave the room?" Ryou said, trying to avoid looking at Yugi's body.

"Yeah. Can we please leave. And possibly eat breakfast?" Joey suggested.

* * *

After everyone had eaten, they decided to split up and search the house.

"Three of us should guard the front door to make sure the killer doesn't escape if he or she is in the house; I don't think he or she would be foolish enough to jump out of a window on the second floor or higher. The other four people should search the house from the attic downwards," Kaiba instructed.

"Why can't we have groups of two?" Joey asked. "It would go faster."

"Are you joking or are you actually as stupid as you look, _Mutt_?" Kaiba asked disdainfully. "If we split into pairs and a member of the pair was the murderer, the other member of the pair would be alone with him or her! And being alone with a killer is a perfect plan- if you feel like being murdered! Although if _you_ want to be in a random pair and risk being killed, that's perfectly fine with me."

Joey muttered profanities under his breath.

"Now, as I was saying, we should draw jobs out of a hat. Or something."

Ryou ran to the kitchen and returned a few seconds later with a bowl.

"Give me that," Kaiba said. "And just so you know, that was really foolhardy. You don't run around alone on an island that has a killer loose on it. Who has a pen and paper?"

"I do," said Serenity, pulling paper and a pen out of her purse. (A/N: The i.d.p. in all girls' purses... don't ask.)

Kaiba wrote down either "search" or "guard" on seven slips of paper and then put them in the bowl face-down. "Draw one," he instructed everyone.

Ribbon drew hers first. "I'm searching the house."

Ryou pulled his paper out of the bowl next. "So am I."

"I'm standing guard at the front door," Serenity said after she'd read her slip of paper.

Glancing at his slip of paper, Tristan said, "I'm searching the house."

"I'm standing guard," Marik said.

Joey pulled out his slip of paper. "I'm searching."

"So that means that I'm standing guard," Kaiba said, taking the last slip of paper. Serenity paled.

* * *

Marik, Kaiba, and Serenity stood guard at the front door. Bored, they turned to the topic that first came to mind: who the killer was. 

"Personally, I'm torn between Joey and Tristan," said Marik. "You saw how quick Joey was to jump to conclusions about Ryou. It makes me think that he was thinking about using Ryou as a scapegoat all the time, but his plans were ruined when he left the ring at home. Joey would therefore have to come up with a different reason to suspect him. As for Tristan, he seems totally unafraid, and the hair Yugi was holding looked a lot like his."

"It also looked a lot like mine. So why don't you suspect me?" Kaiba replied.

"Because I can't see you going nuts and killing people. Driving them into financial ruin seems more your style. If you really hated someone, you'd probably hire someone to do your dirty work for you. What about you? Who do you suspect?"

"That purple-haired girl always trailing after Ryou. Ribbon?"

"Yes, that's her name. Why her?"

"She's been really quiet for one thing. She looks like she knows a lot more than she's letting on. And she always helps prepare dinner, so she'd have a perfect way to poison someone if needed. By the way, what's with her?" Kaiba added, jerking a thumb in Serenity's direction.

Ever since they had settled in to guard the door, Serenity had been curled up in a nearby chair, crying softly.

"I think the events of the past few days have finally caught up with her," Marik said, recalling his grief over Ishizu dying. "Aren't you sad at all?"

"No. I told you, I don't like anyone who's died so far. Why would I cry over them?"

Marik stared. _"He's a medical miracle. I thought that it was necessary to life to have a heart."_ (A/N: Aarrgh, that last sentence sounded odd!)

* * *

Joey, Tristan, Ryou, and Ribbon had started at the attic and were working their way down. In the attic they found nothing but dust. On the tenth floor was nothing. On the ninth floor was nothing. On the eighth floor they were surprised to find nothing. On the seventh floor was an astonishing amount of nothing. On the sixth floor they thought they'd found something, but it turned out to be nothing. On the fifth floor was enough nothing to fill five mansions. On the fourth floor they were almost depressed by all of the nothingness.

By the third floor, Joey found that the tears he head been holding in all day were threatening to spill out. _"Men don't cry,"_ he told himself stubbornly. _"But... I'm going to cry anyway.. I can't believe Yugi's gone!"_

"I'm going to the bathroom," Joey said, hoping he could have a quick cry and then come back.

"We have to escort you downstairs," Tristan reminded him. (A/N: The next floor down has the nearest bathroom, just to clear up any confusion. Why Pegasus couldn't put bathrooms on every floor, I don't know.) "If there is a killer loose in the house, then it wouldn't be a good idea to wander around alone."

* * *

Marik was just managing to calm Serenity down and she was beginning to lift herself out of the chair, which she'd become stuck in when she curled up into a ball, when the three door-guards heard a piercing scream coming from the second floor.

"Oh, no," Serenity whispered. She, Kaiba, and Marik ran upstairs to find Ribbon, Ryou, and Tristan staring into the second-floor bathroom as if in a daze.

"Who screamed?" Kaiba asked.

Ribbon pointed at herself wordlessly.

Serenity had realized who was missing. Heart pounding, she ran forward and pushed Ribbon, Ryou, and Tristan out of the way to see what was in the bathroom. Her heart stopped.

"**JOOOEEEYYYYYYY!" **she wailed, running into the bathroom and collapsing on the floor. Sobbing brokenheartedly, she wrapped her arms around the broken form of her brother and buried her face in his shirt for the last time.

A/N: Aww, poor Serenity. ACK! (runs from Mai and LLB)

LLB: What do you mean, "poor Serenity?" You just killed Joey!

Mai: I demand you bring him back to life right now!

Telecoi: MEEP! HERE! He's not quite dead! (throws Joey at LLB and Mai, who drool and begin to verbally abuse him, respectively)

So, what did you guys think? Read! Review! Guess who the killer is! (puts on puppy-dog face) Pleeeeeeeease?

**TCD0012**: Well, the next victim was Joey. What are you, psychic? Or am I predictable? NOOOOOOOOO! Anyway, thanks for your review! I'm glad the fic's making you think!

**Cheddar99011**: Yeah, I like Yugi too. Not as much as Ryou, but... (hugs Yugi)

**kobear91**: (adds tally mark under Kaiba's name on large chart) I killed all of your favorite characters already? I'm not being very nice to you, am I?

**Athena777**: Pegasus and Mai do have stuff to do in the story, but I can't say more... :P

**KisarathedragonPaliden**: And Ryou finally gets a vote! (draws tally mark under Ryou's name on big chart) I'm sorry, I would love to help your sister out, but I don't want to give away the chapter! If she's a Seto fangirl, though, she probably won't have anything to worry about for a couple of chapters (slaps hands over mouth) Man, I'm giving a lot away in my answers to reviews, aren't I? (scolds self)

Standings: The votes are thus: One and a half votes for Tristan, one and a half votes for Kaiba, two votes for Ribbon, one vote for Pegasus, one vote for Ryou, one-half of a vote for Yugi, and one-half of a vote for Serenity. There are no votes for Marik or Joey, as well as all characters that aren't here, except for Pegasus.


	5. Chappie 5

A/N: Okay...

A/N: Wow, I think everyone who's been following the story (and even new reviewers) reviewed for this last chapter! I looked at the review page and I was like, WHOA! TEN new reviews! That's, like, more than a third of all of the reviews I have so far! YAY! Thanks, everyone!

Disclaimer: NOT. MINE.

Ten Little Duel Monsters

Serenity hugged her brother's corpse to her, sobbing brokenheartedly. For a few seconds, no one quite knew what to do.

"Serenity, it'll be okay," Ryou said softly, attempting to pull Serenity off of her brother's body.

"NO! It won't be okay! It won't!" she yelled at him through her tears.

"Serenity, please let go." Suddenly, Serenity turned around and began to cry into Ryou's shoulder. He patted her on the back as though comforting a small child, ignoring the wet spots appearing on his shirt. "It's okay; it's okay."

Not wanting to upset Serenity, the others looked at each other, communicating without words.

_How did he die?_

Tristan moved silently into the room, and kicked over a large picture in a metal frame that had been dented. It portrayed a field with a picket fence running through it.

_It must have fallen on him._

_Seven little Duel Monsters going after chicks_

_Someone took offense and then there were six_

_Someone took offense..._

_Someone took a fence..._

_The picture!_

For several minutes, no one spoke in respect for Serenity's grief. Then, Kaiba spoke up.

"Look, I know you're probably sad, but it doesn't change the fact that we have a murderer loose on the island. You just have to pull yourself together and help us search outside of the castle. We need to go _now._"

"Kaiba, show a little compassion for her," Ryou said softly. "How would you feel if _Mokuba _had just been murdered?"

Serenity wailed at the word murdered.

Kaiba stared at him for a few seconds, then said, "Fine. But we're going to search in fifteen minutes." He turned, trench coat swishing behind him.

* * *

"Wait!" Serenity cried, just as the group was about to leave the castle.

"What _now?_" Kaiba snarled, annoyed.

Serenity ran from the door and into the dining room, then began to scan the room with her eyes. Sure enough, the Red Eyes Black Dragon china figure was lying in pieces on the floor. Serenity spotted its head and one of its wings that were still intact. She picked up the cold china and held it in her hands, closing her eyes, until her hands had transferred their warmth to the smashed figure in her hand.

Tears trailed down her face again. _Joey... why did it have to be you? I'm going to miss you... so, so much..._

_I love you, big brother..._

"WHEELER! Are you coming or have you been murdered, too?" came Kaiba's voice.

Serenity opened her eyes and looked down at the pieces she held in her hands. "Coming!" she announced, wrapping the china in a nearby cloth napkin and slipping it into her pocket.

* * *

"Okay, Tristan, Marik and I will search this side of the island," Kaiba instructed, gesturing to a portion of the island containing forest and a beach. "The rest of you will search over there." He waved his arm in the direction of a portion of the island containing desert and wasteland. "We'll meet back here in three hours. Make sure not to miss anything."

The two groups left.

* * *

"This is impossible," Tristan grumbled as he, Marik, and Kaiba walked through the forest. "You can't see anything in here! The killer could be hiding in a tree, for all we know, and we'd never see him! Or he could be wearing camouflage clothes! This is just stupid! We should be concentrating on finding the laptop instead of trying to find a murderer that might not even be there."

"What do you mean, the murderer might not be here?" Marik asked. "People are dying left and right! Of course there's a killer! I doubt that these have all been accidents."

"Ah... what I meant was that one of us is probably the murderer. So this is totally pointless. It's just another way to get us to split up and make us easier to kill."

"I doubt that one of us will die while we're in groups of three."

"They say bad things happen in groups of three."

"That means three bad things happen before any good things happen. It doesn't mean that when three people meet that disaster will strike. And as for one of us getting killed, the member of the group not being killed or doing the killing would have to be pretty dumb not to notice that a murder is taking place right next to him. We're fairly safe."

"Would you two shut up and concentrate on searching?" snapped Kaiba.

* * *

"You know, if there was someone here, we'd have seen them by now," said Ribbon. "I mean, we're searching desert and a wasteland, right? They're totally flat lands! A murderer would have to be stupid to hide here! What's he going to do, hide behind a dead tree or a cactus, then jump out and say "Gotcha"?"

"I don't know," Serenity said, depression making her apathetic. "Maybe so."

"Maybe they created tunnels underground to get around?" Ryou said. "Then no one would see them."

"It's possible, I suppose," Ribbon said. "Should we check over there?"

"Sure. Let's go," said Serenity. (A/N: Did anyone besides me notice that everything Serenity said just rhymed? That was not intentional, I assure you!)

* * *

"OW!" Marik said, accompanied by several words not fit to be heard. A heavy tree branch had just fallen out of a nearby tree, hitting him hard on the collarbone. As pain radiated throughout his head, shoulders, torso, and arms, he noted that his left arm was immobile.

"Are you all right?" Tristan asked. _Was that intentional? Was someone trying to kill him? That branch did come just short of his head..._

Marik groaned and sank to his knees, holding onto his collarbone with his right hand. "I'm _fine_," he said through gritted teeth. His eyes filled with tears.

"Perhaps we should go back?" Tristan suggested.

"NO! We have to finish searching this island!" Kaiba yelled. "If he wants to stay behind and get killed because he got hit by a twig, that's his problem!"

"That wasn't a twig; it was quite near a tree trunk!" retorted Tristan.

"It's okay. I can protect myself," Marik said, standing up shakily.

"What?"

"I'm going to go back to the castle and lay down. Whether you trust each other enough to search the island is your business. You can come back with me, or you can keep going." Marik headed back the way they'd come, tears beginning to spill out of his eyes. _Ra, I'm probably going to need a sling for this thing! It hurts more than the time that they put the tattoos on my back!_

Kaiba and Tristan looked at each other.

"Go if you want. _I_ think it would be more foolhardy to go back without being sure that no one else is here." Kaiba began to walk away.

Tristan stared after Marik and Kaiba for a few seconds, then ran after Kaiba.

* * *

Ryou was lying down with his ear on the ground.

"Hear anything?" Ribbon asked him.

"Nothing. So much for my tunnel idea."

"You never know. Maybe they didn't dig tunnels under the desert or wasteland," said Serenity. "The forest would have provided them with more cover."

"I think we're done searching here," Ryou said. "It's pretty obvious that there's nothing to find."

"Shall we go and help Kaiba, Tristan, and Marik search then?" Ribbon asked.

"Fine by me," said Ryou.

Ryou, Ribbon, and Serenity walked towards the forest, looking left and right as they went, keeping an eye out for Marik, Kaiba, Tristan, or the killer.

"Should we call out for them?" Ribbon asked.

"We don't want to announce our presence if there's a murderer nearby," Serenity pointed out.

"True, but if the murderer does come, then there's three of us and one of him, so we'd be pretty safe."

At these words, a dark figure came barreling out of the trees nearby, causing Serenity and Ribbon to scream loudly. Ryou reached out and caught the man by the arm.

"Kaiba?"

"What's going on? Why are you here?"

"Why are you here? Where's Tristan and Marik?"

"I knew it!" Serenity screamed. "He killed them both!"

Kaiba glared at her. "Don't be stupid. Marik's fine. He just went up to the castle to lie down.

"And Tristan?" Ribbon asked, voice shaking.

"DEAD!"

A/N: Sorry for the abnormally short chapter, everyone! It just happens fast... Tristan's gone, and Kaiba is the only witness. Things don't look good, do they? How did Tristan die? Well, I'm going to be mean and make you wait until the next chapter to find out! Review please (or no new chappies!)

**TCD0012**: Well, Ribbon's not gone yet! Still think Tristan did it? Ribbon doesn't appear in many fics because she's from the first season (and the manga, come to think of it), but the first season wasn't aired in the U.S. I put her in my fics mainly because it's fun to have someone have a crush on Ryou!

**Athena777**: (draws one-half of a tally mark under Mai's name and one-half of a tally mark under Pegasus's name on big chart) Do you still suspect Tristan? Or now is it just Pegasus and Mai? Didn't kill off Serenity quite yet, although it probably would have been kinder not to let her suffer and mourn her brother for long. What can I say? The killer isn't very nice.

**SiriusIsthar**: (draws tally mark under Tristan's name on large chart) I may be killing a lot of people's guesses with this chapter, becuase everyone thinks it's Tristan. But I had to, due to the order of deaths, it had to be him or someone else, and I didn't want that someone else to die yet.

**JessiePotter**: I couldn't kill Ryou just yet! He's my favorite character!

**Revan Starr**: (laughs) Yugi's going to live forever because he's short? Well, it worked for Yami for 3000 or 5000 years (although I think that had more to do with the whole being-sealed-inside-a-puzzle thing than being short). And MY Ryou hasn't died yet!

**KisarathedragonPaliden**: (grins mischievously) Who said I was going to kill Kaiba? (looks at last chapter) Ahh... guess it sounded like that... but (slaps hands over mouth)

**Shan's Mousey**: (draws one-half of a tally mark under Pegasus's name and one-half of a tally mark under Bakura's name on chart) Yeah, but I didn't want Yugi to suffer by seeing all of his friends die. And I couldn't leave him out of the story because Yugi fangirls wouldn't like it. (A/N's friend Mel: Well, we're mad that you killed him!) Oh, and I killed another main character. I didn't even realize that I was killing all of them...

**Slifer02**: (draws one-half of a tally mark under Alister's name and one-half of a tally mark under Tristan's name on big chart) Yeah, And Then There Were None is one of my three favorite Agatha Christie books (the others are The Pale Horse and Cards On the Table, although Endless Night is amazing also) Still think it's Tristan?

Standings: (decided to drop the half-votes, from now on you can vote for multiple people and each vote will count. I also dropped numbers for tallys. So each line means one vote)

Tristan: l l l l

Kaiba: l l l

Pegasus: l l l

Ribbon: l l

Yugi: l

Mai: l

Ryou: l

Bakura: l

Alister: l


	6. Chappie 6

A/N: Wow, it's been a while since I last updated. Thought I'd forgotten didn't you? Well, I proudly present: CHAPPIE 6!

Disclaimer: I don't own it and I'm too tired to think of a snappy way to say that I don't own it, so just accept it and move on to the story, okay?

Ten Little Duel Monsters 

"WHAT!" Serenity yelled, wide-eyed.

"How!" Ribbon asked.

"I don't know. We were walking along the beach, which is very high in elevation, looking for the murderer, when all of a sudden Tristan yelled. I turned around and saw him fall off of the cliff, clutching his shoulder."

"And you didn't think to dive into the water and save him?" Serenity asked.

"The water on the bottom of that cliff is covered in rocks. He landed on one. There's no way her survived."

"Wait a minute," Serenity said, frowning. "You and Tristan were the only people on that cliff when he fell off, right?"

"Yeah. A tree branch fell on Marik's collarbone, so he left. So?"

_Kaiba was all alone. He could have pushed Tristan off of the cliff himself, and no one would know!_ Serenity glared at Kaiba.

_You know, Marik was totally alone,_ thought Ribbon. _He could have slipped off, sneaked up on Tristan, pushed him off and then run!_

There was an awkward silence. Then Ryou said, "You know, we really shouldn't leave Tristan's body down there."

"Why not?" Kaiba asked apathetically.

"Listen, let's find Marik and let the girls stay with him while we go and bring Tristan's body back up."

"But Ryou-" Serenity said, shooting a frantic glance at Kaiba. _You'll be all alone with Kaiba! _

"It's okay," Ryou said. As they began to walk back towards the castle, he whispered in her ear, "If Kaiba comes back and says that I've been murdered, then you'll know it's him. You, Ribbon, and Marik will have been together, so none of you could have done it. You'll have enough evidence to convince everyone that it's Kaiba, so you can tie him up or something until the boat comes back tomorrow."

"But you'll be dead!" Serenity whispered fearfully.

"But you, Ribbon, and Marik won't be," he pointed out.

"What are you two whispering about?" Kaiba asked.

"Nothing," Ryou replied as he walked away from Serenity, leaving her no chance to argue.

* * *

Hefting a rope, Kaiba and Ryou returned to the cliffs.

"Climb down and tie this around him," said Kaiba, offering the rope to Ryou.

"Me? Why don't you?"

"What, are you afraid I'm going to push you down while your back is turned?"

"Not quite. I just don't trust you."

"FINE. I'll go down." Slowly, Kaiba climbed down the cliff and tied the rope securely around Tristan's body. "Okay, lift him!"

With a grunt, Ryou began to lift Tristan. _Man, this guy is HEAVY. I wish Kaiba would come up here and help._ Much to his despair, however, Kaiba remained down on the rocks, watching Tristan's body rise. "What are you doing!"

"Making sure to catch him if he falls."

"He's already dead! Could you come up and help me!"

"Do it yourself. I don't want to have to come back down if the rope unties or breaks."

Ryou sighed in exasperation. He began to walk backwards, holding the rope, gradually bringing Tristan back. When his chore was finally done, he waited until Kaiba returned to the top of the cliff before grabbing hold of Tristan's legs and, with Kaiba's help, returning him to the mansion.

* * *

After kicking on the door, Ryou was relieved to see Marik open the door with his good hand, not thinking that Serenity and Ribbon would enjoy the sight of Tristan's body. Albeit, he had died on impact, so very little blood had leaked out of his wounds, but he thought it might be disturbing. He continued to move forward on autopilot, until he and Kaiba reached the cool cellar, where they had been storing the bodies. Ryou shuddered at the sight of his four other fallen friends, and felt glad that his yami wasn't there to take joy in it.

* * *

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Serenity and Ribbon cried in unison, both enveloping Ryou in a hug (Kaiba stood to the side, feeling slightly left out). Ryou was hard put to ask them to let go, as they both continued to cling onto his arm. Kaiba, to cover his embarrassment at being so sappy as to feel annoyed that nobody cared that he came back alive, swept off to examine Marik's collarbone. He lightly touched it with his index finger.

"OH MY RA! THAT HURTS!" yelled Marik, accompanied by a few other choice words.

"It's broken," Kaiba said simply. "Your arm will have to be put in a sling until we can get it properly looked at. In the meantime, I'd also advise that you take some painkillers."

"Did you bring some?" Marik asked sourly, breathing heavily.

"No, but this stupid house has everything and its auntie (A/N- I didn't know the exact saying, so I wrote what sounded somewhat like it. Forgive me! (cries)). I'm guessing that it would have painkillers."

Ryou, accompanied by Ribbon and Serenity, walked off to the kitchen to search for the desired medication. Kaiba, meanwhile, entered his room, calling back to Marik, "Stay there." A few moments later, a ripping sound was heard, and Kaiba re-emerged with a large piece of bedsheet. "Now hold still and don't make a sound."

Marik gritted his teeth as Kaiba wrapped the sheet around his arm, up and over his neck. As Kaiba finished, Marik let out a quiet scream, almost inaudible.

Ryou returned with the painkillers, the two girls once again trailing behind him like duckings, carrying a glass of water. Marik popped two pills into his mouth and took a sip of water, swallowing them.

"Now what?" Kaiba asked moodily.

"I think we should eat dinner and go to bed early," Ribbon said. "After all, the boat will be here tomorrow morning, and then this nightmare will end."

"Sounds good to me," said Marik.

Ribbon, Ryou, and Serenity left to cook dinner.

* * *

"I see that sicko killer has left his calling card again," Marik said grimly as he picked at the plate of chicken in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Ryou asked.

Marik gestured to the china figures. "The Cyber Commander is missing."

"Doesn't he or she normally smash them?" Ryou asked, confused.

"I cleaned it up while I was setting the table," said Ribbon. "I just couldn't stand to see the little pieces everywhere. In fact, I've cleaned up all of the smashed pieces." Her voice held a hint of resentment at the fact that they had left such a macabre task to her. "But I never cleaned up the Red Eyes Black Dragon. I don't know what happened to it."

"I have it," said Serenity, pulling the napkin that held the broken pieces of the china figure out of her pocket.

"You're carrying around a smashed china figure that represents your brother's dead body!" Kaiba asked incredulously.

Serenity glared at him, eyes filling with tears, before she picked up the napkin again and fled from the room.

_Maybe it's not that Ribbon girl. Maybe it's the Wheelerette. I mean, she's quiet, she cries at the simplest question and... it just seems so logical! _He noticed everyone staring at him. "What?"

"Way to go, Kaiba," Ribbon said coldly. "You made her cry _again._" She slammed her silverware on her plate and left, soon followed by a silent Ryou.

Kaiba continued to eat alone. If they wanted to starve for the rest of the night, it was their decision.

* * *

Ryou woke the next morning with one thought on his mind: _We're going home today!_ He rose from his be, dressed, and left his room when he heard a retching and splattering sound from down the hall.

Ribbon was bent over in front of the open door to one of the rooms, a pool of vomit in front of her, and tears running down her face, along with rivulets of sweat. Alarmed, Ryou quickly ran over and pulled her upwards. She yelled and hit him, saw who it was, and then began to cry into his shoulder. Ryou began to walk closer to the doorway when Ribbon pushed him away, trying to speak through her sobs. "Don't go... look... don't look at him! It's ghastly...horri...don't look..." She gulped.

"Ribbon, what happened? Can you tell me?"

"Get...Kaiba...don't let Ser...ty out of...room... Don't let... her look... YOU don...look..."

"Okay, I'll go get Kaiba. Can you make it down the stairs?" he asked, not wanting to leave her alone. She nodded vigorously.

Halfway down the stairs, Ribbon's knees gave way, and she collapsed. Ryou lifted her up onto her feet, walked a few more steps, and saw her collapse again. In a frantic fog, he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way down, then set her on the last step and knocked on Kaiba's door. Within a few seconds, the CEO was in the doorway.

"What?"

"Ribbon wants you..." Ryou couldn't think of a better way to say it.

"Why?"

"I don't know. Ask her."

Ribbon felt her head being forced up (it had been buried in her knees) and saw Kaiba's face through her tears.

"What do you want?"

Ribbon tried to explain. "In Marik's room...can't watch...go look."

Kaiba shrugged and left for Marik's room to find the door open, then walked in, and knew immediately why Ribbon hadn't wanted anyone else in the room.

Marik lay on his bed, his neck slit open, blood staining his bed so badly that almost all but the very bottom of the bed had turned red. He had the Millennium eye drawn on his forehead, and the Millennium Rod, stained with his blood, was clutched in his hand.

Kaiba, for all his strength, could not stand to be in the room. He fled.

A/N: Oh, I had to kill Marik! So SAD! (sniff) I know it's been a while since I updated last, but this chapter was hard to write! Plus I've had an abnormal amount of homework/tests. And then finals are coming, and I have to count on them to pull my grades up --U. In fact, I wrote this when I should be writing my 750-word essay on Panama. I'm such a procrastinator.

Seto's Obbsessive Stalker: Don't skip lunch! It's bad for your health! (Not that I can talk, I'm going to have to type the next installment during lunch because of the B's and C on my report card preventing me from using my computer...)

TCD0012: Really? You need to read it! It's such a good book! And good theory, although I'm not saying if it's right or wrong

Coolgirlmich: Do you speak German? The reason I'm asking is the "mich" in your name could be German for "me." (I've been taking German for five years so I'm a tad bit obsessed, but whatever). I didn't put Yami in the story because Yugi died so early, and I don't think the yami's can take over the hikari's bodies when they're dead, or else Ryou would have died as soon as he got the ring, so Bakura could run around free, wreaking havok. Although at first, the ending to this story was going to be that Bakura killed Ryou and killed everyone while pretending to be him. But that's not the ending now.

SiriusIsthar: Well, Kaiba already is a murderer (the thing with his adopted dad? Or does suicide count as being murdered if you were driven? Whatever). You were right about Marik dying (poor Marik). And you suspect Ryou now? Way to be original and not suspect Ribbon, Ryou, Pegasus, or Kaiba!

BoredAsCrap: Not telling you if you're right or wrong... do you still suspect Marik?

JessiePotter: Well, Marik's dead. You were right. Why does everyone have ESP? And true, Mai could have had a lot of star chips left over. Maybe she did...

Revan Starr: Ah, I know the effects of sugar. I just got back from a two-day OotM road trip/competition, and we were all seriously DRUNK off sugar. We started making potato sculptures and throwing them at each other. And then we all went to eat Chinese food and two of the others got engaged... at fifteen (jokingly, of course) because their fortune cookies both told them that happiness was right next to them and they were sitting together.

Rachel: You don't know who it is? THANK RA! One of my friends took one look at the first chapter and said right off the bat, "It's (insert-killer's-name-here)" and I wondered how obvious I could be! Thank you for raising my self-esteem!

Tristan: llll

Kaiba: lll

Pegasus: llll

Ribbon: ll

Mai: ll

Ryou: ll

Yugi: l

Bakura: l

Alister: l

Marik: l


	7. Chappie 7

A/N: Okay, I have gotten far beyond the normal number of reviews for this chapter, and the guilt of being a procrastinator in typing the next chapter when everyone is so patiently waiting is all that's making me type this now. Don't you guys feel loved?

Ten Little Duel Monsters

Serenity woke serenely. The fairy-tale-material-birds were chirping outside her window, a gentle breeze shaking the tree outside of her bedroom window. Today was the day.

Today was the day that the boat would come to take them home.

Home... Serenity's thoughts drifted as she threw open her window, allowing the bright sunlight to waft in and cover her. What would her home be like? What would her RETURN be like? Her parents knew that she and Joey had been vacationing here. How could she tell her mother, on return, that Joey had been killed (tears began to fill her eyes again)? And it wasn't as though she could put it off- if she waited so much as a day, the papers would surely do her job for her, something she did NOT want.

Of course, the worst would be facing her father (the tears were slowly spilling out onto her cheeks). Who wanted to be the one to tell a drunken man that his son was dead? Certainly not her. There would be too much danger in it.

Glancing at her watch, she was startled to discover that it was just before noon. She had been so relieved, it seemed, to sleep and escape the danger and the heartbreak that filled her waking hours that she had continued to sleep for hours more than her body needed to function.

She wiped the tears from her face, dressed slowly and made her way downstairs, overlooking the fact that Marik's door had been closed and locked from the inside. She walked downstairs, appetite completely gone, and not in the mood to eat anything. However, it seemed that it was Ribbon's, Ryou's, and her job to fix food, so she would have to help to ensure that Marik and Kaiba didn't go hungry. Perhaps the smell of cooking food would awaken her senses. She'd need strength to deal with the reporters once it got out what had happened on this island over the weekend.

Serenity heard no trace of noise as she walked downstairs. It didn't seem as though anyone was there at all. She walked through the halls and looked around the rooms, but still all was quiet. She even ventured onto a few higher floors in hopes of finding them searching the house again, but all was quiet.

She began to panic. It seemed that no one was there. Had the boat come and they, eager to leave the island, had forgotten about her and left her there? But surely that was impossible. There were FOUR of them! Surely ONE of them would have remembered if they had left.

No. She couldn't find them anywhere, and surely they'd be making some noise. She didn't even smell the scent of breakfast having been cooked. They had left her.

THEY had LEFT her.

They had LEFT HER.

They had left her ALONE on an ISLAND with her brother's dead body.

But it WAS impossible. They couldn't have forgotten her.

So what other option was there?

Of course.

They- Ryou, Ribbon, Marik, and Kaiba- had all been killed while she was asleep.

BY WHO?

She didn't know, exactly. But that meant that there was still a rabid killer left on the island, and he or she would surely be after her. Instinctively, she picked up a nearby vase. She needed to arm herself. She needed to be ready. And she needed to find this killer before he or she or IT found her.

Serenity crept as quietly as she could around the mansion, exploring all of the upper floors carefully, until she came back to the ground floor and continued to search until she came to the dining room, where Ribbon, Ryou, and Kaiba were sitting in chairs, not speaking.

The vase fell from Serenity's grasp in shock, causing everyone to jump and give yells of surprise.

"WHAT THE &# DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, GARDNER?" Kaiba yelled as Ribbon yelped and buried her face in Ryou's shoulder.

"What do YOU think YOU'RE doing?" she replied. "Why didn't you wake me up or something? I thought you'd all been killed!"

"We're all right," Ryou said, somewhat perplexed (whether by what she said or by the fact that Ribbon was not letting go of him, we'll never know).

"Then... where's Marik?" Serenity asked, looking fearful.

"Must you really ask?" Kaiba said dryly. "He died last night."

"...oh. Sorry. So, um... what were you doing here?"

"Practically nothing," replied Ryou. "Just... sitting here. This killer is getting worse and worse. Kaiba told me what happened to Marik."

Serenity remained silent. Part of her wanted to ask what had happened, but she knew that it would be terribly rude of her to ask, as well as making someone tell her, which they wouldn't enjoy.

"So... what now? Can I sit, too?"

"Go ahead," Ribbon said, looking up from Ryou's shirt and instead leaning against his arm.

Serenity fidgeted. She just couldn't sit here doing nothing. "Have you eaten?" she asked after a few minutes.

"No," they chorused.

"Then can I make lunch?"

"Sure."

"Whatever."

"Feel free."

Serenity rose, surprised that no one had offered to help her. Surely they would want at least one other person there to make sure that she wasn't poisoning anything! But they seemed to be in such shock over what had happened to Marik that they couldn't think straight.

She walked into the kitchen and performed her usual routine of inspecting everything she took off of the shelves to make sure that it hadn't been opened before. Once she was sure that everything she had was brand new, she began to cook, and returned later with four plates, which she set on the table in front of herself and her friends.

No one seemed to have much of an appetite. They merely sat there, picking at their food, until Serenity finally got up and cleared the table, resigned to the fact that no one wanted to do anything.

They continued to sit there until dinner, when Serenity gave them a lecture about how they needed to keep their strength up, and they all needed to eat something in order to do so. She walked back into the kitchen and fixed up soup, which she forced upon everyone. Once everyone had eaten, they retired into their respective rooms.

Four locks clicked.

Four chairs were slid under doorknobs.

* * *

Serenity wrapped blankets around herself as she had the night when she'd first arrived. How long ago it seemed, even though it had only been a couple of days. Now, Serenity seemed to measure time in lives, as though every young life that had been cut short had amounted to a year of being trapped on this miserable island, where Joey had fought for her eyesight and his life. But he'd lost the second time. 

She couldn't stand it. She just couldn't stand it. She couldn't sit through another day like this one, a day filled with people grieving for those that they once knew, who they had seen die. She would just have to stay in her room.

That was it. She could stay in her room, guard herself, and make sure she was armed. If anyone entered her room intending to harm her, she'd be ready. And once the murderer was gone, they would have plenty of time to make a boat or search for Kaiba's laptop.

She commended herself for this genius thought before she fell back into a deep sleep.

Ryou's eyes snapped open at the sound of a scream followed by several loud thumps. _What was that? Oh, NO!_ He got up slowly and cracked open his door. He saw no murderers rushing past his door, but rather a totally deserted hallway. Therefore, he crept out and glanced up and down the hallway.

Serenity was standing at the top of the stairs, carrying the candlestick that she'd had with her when Tristan entered her room their first night there.

"Serenity?" Ryou called before walking over to her.

Serenity pointed, wordlessly, down the stairs. Ryou, followed by Kaiba, who'd just exited his room, walked over to the top of the stairs and looked down them.

Ribbon lay at the bottom, arm clearly broken and bent at an odd angle, blood streaming from her nose and ear, as well as trickling from her mouth. The smashed china figure of the Dark Magician Girl lay beside her head.

"Serenity..." _Why are you carrying that candlestick?_

A/N: And that's all she wrote. I apologize for the INCREDIBLY long delay; I had finals, EOCTs, projects, bug collections (blech), and other inventions made to torture students to deal with. I'll update sooner next time (promise!).

**Setoglomper: **Okay, well I (finally) updated! Hope you enjoyed it!

**TCD0012: **You really have a head for strategy. I'm not saying if it's right or wrong, but it seems well thought out

SiriusIsthar: Uh, don't kill anyone (especially me!) until you're sure of who it is, please. That gives me a chance to smuggle the killer away, no matter who it is :P You were right about Ribbon dying. Congrats! Have a cookie! 

**JessiePotter: **You were right about Ribbon dying. Still sticking by Mai? Maybe, maybe not...

**Valora: **Thanks! Throughout the book And Then There Were None, I was convinced it was Armstrong. And then I didn't read the little letter at the back of the book for two years, so for two years I thought the killer was someone it wasn't. I've never actually seen the play, but I own a book with the play script in it. I liked the ending better than in the book

**Prescious Princess: **Thanks!

**Athena777: **Thank you! This chapter probably wasn't up to scratch, but oh, well. More and more people suspecting Mai...

**BlackNinjagirl: **Okay, two votes for Spike...

**kobear91: **Thanks for reviewing!

**BlackTiger57: **Thanks, trying to keep it up (although now that it's summer, I'll have more luck in doing so)

**CuteKitsune57: **Why does everyone know that Ribbon's gonna die? Am I that obvious? Oh, well. I didn't want to kill Yugi, he's too nice, but I couldn't make him the killer either...

**Kaiba-Kun: **Thanks for reviewing; I think this chapter answered your question.

**Elizabeth Aiken: **(pats Yugi and Joey on the head) You'll have to fight Mai, LLB, Rebecca, and Mel if you want them... Thanks!

**Nicole: **Danke! (Thank you in German).

Pegasus: lllll

Tristan: llll

Kaiba: lll

Ribbon: ll

Mai: ll

Ryou: ll

Yami Marik: ll

Yugi: l

Bakura: l

Alister: l

Marik: l

Serenity: l

Dartz: l


	8. Chappie 8

A/N: Hallo! (That is German, not a typo). Back from summer vacation, and writing again! 

Ten Little Duel Monsters

Serenity looked at Ryou, shocked that he would suspect her. "I brought this with me when I heard a thump. I thought I'd have to protect myself."

"A likely story," snorted Kaiba, rather miffed that the person he suspected was dead. Aside from having another death (he was growing used to it), being wrong was a major blow to his ego.

"It's the truth!" Serenity protested, trying not to look at their accusing stares.

"There's only the three of us left now," said Kaiba. "And you seem by far to be the most likely to have killed everyone else."

"What about Joey!" yelped Serenity.

"What _about_ him?"

Serenity burst into tears. She moved towards Ryou, expecting to receive a hug and permission to cry on his shoulder again, but he moved out of the way, so she simply stood by herself, bawling.

"I would NEVER k-kill Joey!" she gulped. "It's not my fault that I'm here! I just got an invitation! I just w-wanted to have f-f-fun with my brother and friends, and n-now he's gone, along with ev-everyone else, and-and- WHEN IS THAT STUPID BOAT COMING!" she continued to wail.

"Haven't you figured it out, Wheeler?" snarled Kaiba. "THERE IS NO BOAT. We're not allowed to leave this island...ever. We're stuck here until we find the killer or are rescued. We haven't been able to find my laptop, so our only hope is for Pegasus to turn up."

"Unless he's behind all this," Serenity said, sniffing and rubbing her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

Kaiba stared at her. "I never thought of that."

"No, you were too busy blaming me!" Serenity said reproachfully.

"You know, that is a distinct possibility," said Ryou. "He does own this island. I can't believe no one thought of this before."

"What do we do now?" asked Serenity.

"What do you mean, Wheeler?" asked Kaiba. "We do the same thing we've been doing. Stick together, watch each other's backs. We should probably set up a watch system at night so that two people keep guard and the third sleeps, just in case a person guarding is the killer."

"But there's one problem you haven't noticed, Kaiba," Ryou said in an uncharacteristically calculating voice. "We've already searched the island for the killer. We also haven't been able to find your laptop; it's possible that someone threw it into the ocean to ensure that we never found it. If we can't find Pegasus or your laptop, how do we get off this island?" (A/N: It's like a bad Gilligan's Island remake:) ) "There's a limited amount of food on this island, unless we can grow our own. And unless anyone here knows how to make a boat that can actually float," Serenity shook her head; Kaiba curtly turned his to one side, "I think we're stuck here."

"And what do you suggest we do?" asked Kaiba.

Ryou paused. "I don't know. I have no idea."

Serenity looked down the stairs and gulped. "Can we move her? I don't like to just look down there and see..."

"That should be the first order of business," agreed Ryou. "Then we have to make sure that none of us follow her."

Later, they all gathered in the living room, Kaiba carrying a picture frame with him.

"What is that?" Serenity asked.

"It's the copy of that poem, "Ten Little Duel Monsters," that was hanging in your room," Kaiba replied. "If you'll notice, it points out all of the ways that people are going to die beforehand." He began to read it aloud.

"'_Ten little Duel Monsters looking so fine,_

_A mirror broke in one's face and then there were nine_,'" Kaiba looked up. "That was Gardner; a mirror fell on her.

"'_Nine little Duel Monsters pondering their fate,_

_The past killed one and then there were eight;_' Ishizu was strangled with her necklace, being killed by the past.

"'_Eight little Duel Monsters looking at the heavens,_

_A star fell on one and then there were seven;'_ Yugi was suffocated and had star chips with him when he was discovered.

"'_Seven little Duel Monsters going after chicks,_

_Someone took offense and then there were six;'_ this would describe Wheeler, and then there was that distasteful attack with the picture.

"'_Six little Duel Monsters going for a dive_

_One drowned in the water and then there were five;_' Tristan was pushed off a cliff. He would have landed in the ocean if there hadn't been a rock in the way.

"'_Five little Duel Monsters hiding from the gore,_

_One couldn't clear his mind and then there were four;_' Marik was found with that staff thing he carries, which is supposed to brainwash people.

"'_Four little Duel Monsters unable to see,_

_One tripped and fell and then there were three;'_ Ribbon fell down a flight of stairs.

"'_Three little Duel Monsters eating food brand new,_

_But one choked and died and then there were two._

_Two little Duel Monsters: just a pair of nuns,_

_One left the abbey and then there was one_

_One little Duel Monster left all alone,_

_He disappeared and then there were none!'_ These are the lines that haven't occurred yet. The next supposed murder seems pretty straightforward: one of us is going to be poisoned."

"It says '_food brand new_,' though," observed Ryou. "If the food is still sealed, then how can it have been poisoned?"

"This is Pegasus's island," said Kaiba. "I suppose that he could have poisoned the food before it was sealed."

"Yes, but that doesn't make sense. Then he couldn't be sure when we'd eat the poisoned food. Even now, it could take months to go through all the food to get to the poisoned part."

"Hmmm..." Kaiba mused. "Maybe he'll come and plant it?"

"I say the best plan is to dig through the pantry and only eat the things in the back," Serenity suggested.

Kaiba sighed. "It's not the best plan, but I don't see what else we can do. We can't starve to death."

Serenity and Ryou opened up cans of soup for dinner, poured them into bowls, and heated them over a stove with Kaiba supervising them, to assure that they were not working together. Serenity suggested bread to go with the soup, but it seemed so much easier to poison something through a flimsy plastic bag than a can of soup, that the idea was dropped.

At the table, they sat for a long time, watching the soup cool, reluctant to eat it. After ten minutes of silence, Kaiba picked up his spoon, ignoring Ryou and Serenity's gasps.

"I've never backed down from anything out of fear," he said coldly. "And I'm not about to start now. But if I do die, will you tell Mokuba that I love him?"

The other two nodded.

"For the record, if I live, I never said that." Kaiba dipped his spoon into the now-cold soup sitting in front of him, inserted it into his mouth, and swallowed.

Within seconds, he had died.

A/N: Aww! Kaiba's so cute here! I wasn't sure if it was entirely in character for him to do something so stupid, but I can totally picture him saying that.

Oh yeah, and to make up for the long delay, another chapter will come out in a week or less.

**Nicole**: Good theories all around! Glad this makes you think!

**TCD0012**: Um, yeah, about that making-you-wait-thing... (hides under bed)

Everyone comes up with good explanations for every death; I could write another version with all of them! Yours is particularly well thought out; it would do well!

**-glomps Yuugi-** : Haha, I love your name! Fun review! It made me giggle, thus contributing to another chapter!

**SiriusIsthar**: Yeah, it's just one big circle now, isn't it? Candlestick is capitalized! It feels loved!

**JessiePotter**: Are you psychic? How'd you know who would die next?

**Athena777**: Yeah, boat-not-coming-thing supposed to keep ya in suspense. :P Evidently, it worked. Yay!

**Doma Yuset**: Yeah, I made Seto sweet in this chapter. I couldn't resist.

**Aerith Queen of Cetra**: Revenge is always a powerful motive.

I updated! Soon-ish-kind-of-sort-of-late-after-all-eternity...

**Coolgirlmich**: Thank you!

**BlackTiger57**: I'm a lazy updater! (hides) So, either Serenity or Joey framing Kaiba? Understandable (I mean, they don't like him much, do they?)

**Kaiba-Kun**: Umm... yeah... ummm... tsk... well... I updated... sorta soon...

**Rachel**: Well, since you said please... :P

Pegasus: lllll

Tristan: llll

Kaiba: lll

Ribbon: ll

Mai: ll

Ryou: lll

Yami Marik: ll

Bakura: ll

Yugi: l

Alister: l

Marik: l

Serenity: l

Dartz: l

Joey: l


	9. Chappie 9

A/N: What happens next, I wonder? Read to find out! 

Ten Little Duel Monsters

Ryou and Serenity's eyes traveled from Kaiba's body upwards until they reached each other's eyes. There was complete and total silence while thoughts rushed through their heads.

_I guess it had to end this way... _

_No..._

_I never wanted it to..._

_It can't possibly be..._

_I didn't want to face this..._

_I thought I knew..._

_But _somehow _I'll get over it..._

_I couldn't have been wrong about this!_

_I just have to remember the circumstances._

Serenity turned abruptly and headed toward the kitchen.

"Hey, get back here!" snarled Ryou, starting after her.

"Glad to oblige," Serenity said, returning to the door way with a knife in her hand.

"Put that down," Ryou said harshly.

"No," Serenity replied, just as coldly.

"Then what do you plan to do with it?"

"Not what you're thinking. You're lucky. Unlike everyone else, you get a choice. Do you want to live or not?"

"Yes," Ryou said, going slightly pale.

"Then here's what's going to happen: You are going to go up into your room and I will lock you in. Then I'm going to get off this island; there must be something here that floats. I'm sure that you'll eventually get out, but in the meantime, I don't need you underfoot."

There was a pause in which Ryou stood still, looking slightly amused.

"Why aren't you moving?" asked Serenity. "Go!"

Silently, Ryou exited the room and climbed the stairs, stopping in front of his door.

"Why are you stopping?" Serenity asked.

"How are you going to deal with the window in my room?" he asked quietly. "And about the door's hinges? They're on the inside. It would take me five minutes to get them off."

Serenity lowered the knife in her hand slightly, looking confused. "Why point this out now? Wouldn't it be easier to escape if you didn't?"

"Yes. But you forget that I've had a thief king possessing me for a while now. I could escape from anywhere that you put me. Even if the room was inescapable, then I could still attack you when you turn to find the key for the door."

"I have the knife here, remember?"

"Well, yes. But you wouldn't have it for long."

Serenity snapped the knife back up. "You're right. There's only one solution."

A long pause followed these words.

"What's wrong?" Ryou asked softly.

"There's nothing wrong! I have no choice!" Serenity sounded hysterical. Suddenly, she began to whip the knife around.

A gunshot sounded and she collapsed onto the ground.

A/N: Le gasp! Only one person left! However, there will still be one or two chapters after this. Reviews are still greatly appreciated. Short chappie, but next one will be longer.

**JessiePotter**: Definitely psychic.

**TCD0012**: Yay! Loving the quote!

**SiriusIsthar**: Obviously, Serenity did not look out... Thanks for reviewing!

**Primevera Took**: You liked my fence? YAY!

(Any relation to Pippin:P)

**alexbakura**: Yep, well, Ryou's the only one left, so...

A 4 out of 5? Flattering, considering one of my best friends thinks that this story has no plot aside from the big plot (if that makes ANY sense at all...)

**- glomps Yuugi -**: Oh, no you don't! Ryou's mine!

I'll adopt Mokuba! Actually, I'll make my parents adopt him, but he'll be around anyways...

**Athena777**: I'm being very evil and not giving out clues

Standings thus:

Pegasus: lllll

Tristan: llll

Ryou: llll

Kaiba: llll

Mai: lll

Ribbon: ll

Yami Marik: ll

Bakura: ll

Yugi: l

Alister: l

Marik: l

Serenity: l

Dartz: l

Joey: l


End file.
